The Garth

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

That’s it. That’s the only word I can think of that fits the awesomeness that I experienced Saturday. Beware: Gushing praise ahead.

At 1:05pm Garth Brooks took the stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the crowd exploded. It was insane. I’ve been to hundreds of concerts of all different musical genres, and I swear I’d never seen anything like it in my life. Every single person in the place was on their feet and screaming and clapping. And Garth was grinning like it was his very first concert. I’d never seen him in concert before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It certainly wasn’t a show with as much fun, entertainment, and energy as he put into it.

I’m not a big Garth Brooks fan. I actually tried to give my ticket away, because I wanted someone to go who was excited about it, rather than me who was just lukewarm about it. Boy am I glad that didn’t happen! The man just goes and goes non-stop. You can tell he absolutely loves what he does. And he’s so humble. At one point he started singing a song, and then abruptly stopped. "Garth 101: Never start a song in a key you can’t finish it in." Everyone laughed. It seems like such a simple thing, but how often do you see such a huge star admitting he made a mistake in front of thousands of people? In fact, how often do you see such a huge star being so generous? He did FIVE complete shows in the course of 29 hours, all five of which sold out in less than an hour. Combined. Not only that, but he gives things away DURING the show.  A woman was up front with a sign that said "Can I have a guitar pick?" So, he gave her one. And the gave her the WHOLE FREAKING GUITAR! Just took it right off his shoulder strap and handed it into the crowd in the middle of the song. Oh wait, that’s not all. When the song was over, he took the guitar back and personalized it to the woman and her daughter, and then signed it for them. Holy hell. I mean, yeah, other artists give away picks and drumsticks and stuff. But who puts on FIVE concerts for charity in 2 days, raises over TEN MILLION dollars, and yet still hands out his guitar mid-song? The man seriously has my respect.

The whole show was amazing. Energetic, funny, and with an excellent mix of new ad old, fast and slow songs. If you only get to see one performer in your entire life, make it Garth Brooks. Even if you’re not a huge fan of his music, he’s by far the best musical entertainer I’ve ever seen.